EmpressDowager Cixi (Chinese: 慈禧太后; Hanyu pinyin: Cíxǐ Tàihòu; Wade-Giles: Tz'u-Hsi T'ai-hou) lived from November 29, 1835 to November 15, 1908. She was a consort of the Xianfeng emperor, mother of the Tongzhi emperor, and adoptive mother of the Guangxu emperor. She is suspected of having ordered the murder of the last of these, the day before she died. Certainly she had kept him captive under house arrest since his abortive attempt to bring about reform in China during the 'Hundred Days' of 1898.